How is knowledge acquired from a scholar, how is a divine scholar recognized, and what are the criteria for trusting him?

To receive knowledge from scholars, several conditions must be met: sincerity of intention to Allah and piety, acting upon the knowledge, patience and humility, choosing good companions, respecting scholars without deifying them, and reviewing knowledge. As for the trustworthy Rabbani (divinely-guided) scholar, he is one who combines the characteristics of knowledge and acting upon it, jurisprudence, wisdom, teaching and nurturing people, and rectifying their affairs. Ibn Abbas described such scholars as "wise jurists," who educate people with the minor matters of knowledge before the major ones. He is one who combines knowledge, jurisprudence, insight into politics and administration, and attends to the affairs of the subjects, being a scholar who acts upon his knowledge and teaches others.